Just minutes after Bayern Munich had wrapped up their 18th Bundesliga title with a 2-0 win over Wolfsburg last Saturday, club director and former player, Uli Hoeness, exclaiming triumphantly: "Watch out Real Madrid, we're back in business.," writes Paddy Agnew.
In retrospect, their first-phase Champions League exit may have proved a blessing for Bayern, even if it threatened to unship coach Ottmar Hitzfeld from the job he has held for the last five seasons.
Relieved of their European commitments (Bayern did not even qualify for the consolation of a UEFA Cup run), the mighty Munich team steamrollered their domestic opposition, wrapping up the title with a win that left them 13 points clear at the top with four games still to play.
Not that domestic dominance is a new experience for a club that has won 17 titles in 34 seasons.
Bayern's success over the last decade, when all of Europe's biggest winners (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, AC Milan, Manchester United, etc.) have grown richer thanks to Champions League TV revenue, has meant the club now dominates German football economically as well as on the pitch. This means whenever a talented player appears in another Bundesliga side, he soon becomes the object of Bayern desire.
Such was the case last summer when Bayern snapped up Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto and German international Michael Ballack, two of the key figures in Bayer Leverkusen's gallant run to the Champions League final (beaten by Real Madrid)and the runners-up spot the Bundesliga (won by Borussia Dortmund).
For good measure, Bayern also bought Hertha Berlin's international midfielder Sebastien Deisler to join a squad already packed with German internationals including goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, defender Thomas Linke, midfield play-maker Mehmet Scholl and midfielders Jens Jeremies and Michael Tarnat. Furthermore, their foreign division included Ghanaian defender Samuel Kuffour, French defender Bixente Lizarazu, and strikers Claudio Pizzaro (Peru) and Giovane Elber (Brazil).
Little wonder chairman and former Bayern ace Karl-Heinz Rumenigge declared enthusiastically last August: "This is the best Bayern we've ever had."
Notwithstanding their latest triumph, Bayern still managed to create a series of off-the-field problems for themselves along the way. In February the club admitted receiving €21.5 million by way of a secret media contract with the struggling KirchMedia group, on top of the existing TV money passed on to the clubs via the German league under a central marketing agreement.
That dispute appeared to be settled when Bayern agreed to pay €3 million "compensation" to the league. Yet the row has flared up again after the German ruling body declared Bayern's attitude "morally reprehensible," prompting the club to threaten to negotiate its own TV deal for next season.
Even in their moment of triumph last Saturday, the TV row reared its ugly head with rival club president, Gerhard Niebaum of Borussia Dortmund, calling for Bayern to be excluded from next season's league championship if they insist on negotiating their own TV deal.
Doubtless, Bayern, Borussia and the Bundesliga will settle their differences long before then. Doubtless, too, they will start next season's Champions League on the short-list of tournament favourites.
